Nov 20: Swimming, painting

This morning we went to the swim school to try out the next level of swim class, called "Super Waterbabies". In the Waterbabies class we've been in, it's a mom & baby thing, and we're in the water together. Once they turn two, the moms get out of the pool and it's just a few toddlers with a teacher. The teacher works with them one at a time while they sit on the side of the pool and wait their turn. When they turn 3 they go to "Extreme Waterbabies", and they wait their turn standing on a platform in the water.

So yeah, this didn't go so well. Carter is definitely NOT ready to sit patiently and wait his turn, and I ended up spending the entire half hour chasing him around the pool. He was okay in the water with the teacher, though he seemed a little disturbed that I wasn't in the water with him. I think he'll be ready in a couple of months, but I'm not sure about that sitting and waiting thing, LOL. His regular teacher said we were going to start working on that in our current class, because it's something all the upcoming 2 year olds need to work on.

I'm dreading the switch to the next level, to be honest, because I love our swimming lessons together! It's so much fun to have that time to play with him in the water. It's too cold to get in our pool now, so I'll really miss it. It's just the start of him becoming a child and growing up, and it's bittersweet. I worked so hard and went through so much for years to have a baby, and this might be the only chance I have to do all of these things. I'm determined to enjoy every minute to the fullest! :-)

I was able to take a few pictures while he was in the pool, though he didn't do any swimming today. I think the teacher just wanted to see how he did with someone else holding him.





She taught him how to climb out of the pool, and that was new. They say, "elbow, elbow, knee, knee".



And once the kids are halfway out, they let them do it the rest of the way themselves. He did just fine!



It was a rainy day today, so we worked on some coloring. He's getting more interested in coloring all the time. I can ask him what medium he wants, and he'll tell me crayons, markers, or paints! He'll even ask for more paper when he wants it. Here are some pictures from today. Here he is coloring with markers:



And here he's painting with watercolors. He's getting better at using the brush.



Here's a cute video of him painting, in which he says, "I painting."



When he got tired of that, I dug out our homemade playdough, which is still just as good as new, and he had fun with that for a while.



Heh, the writing of this post was interrupted by the realization that Carter was drawing all over the kitchen floor with his markers! He'd gotten awfully quiet over there, LOL. ;-)